Southern states prepare against Boko Haram

Members of the boko haram sect
| credits: File copy

Governments of states in the southern part of the country are bracing for possible attacks by the Boko Haram sect. There are fears that the sect, which has its base in the North-East, may extend its targets to the South.

The terrorist group had claimed responsibility for several attacks and kidnappings in the northern part of the country, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Abuja, the seat of the Nigerian government, has recorded three major attacks in 2014 alone.

Boko Haram suspects in detention at the headquarters of the Department of State Services attempted a jailbreak on March 30, leading to a shootout. The terrorists have also attacked Nyanya, Abuja twice, killing over 100 and injuring many others.

On Friday, the Kwara State Government, which described the recent Abuja bombings as horrible, inhuman, barbaric unacceptable and lamented that nowhere was safe in the country. It said the entire country was apprehensive over the activities of terrorists.

The state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Tunji Moruonfoye, said the government was collaborating with security agencies to prevent any terrorist incursion or attacks.

He, however, expressed fears that the terrorists could still break through the security system.

Moruonfoye said, “Nowhere is safe in Nigeria today. It has nothing to do with Kwara alone.  It is all of us. If anybody will be hit, we should be bothered.  Our children are being kidnapped and taken away by this sect. It could be anybody’s child.  The whole country is apprehensive.

“We are going to be consumed, if we do not do something about it in uniformity.

“We are doing a lot of underground work such as intelligence and investigation.  If we see suspicious people, they are interrogated.  There are other security measures that I will not make public. We are providing logistic support for the law-enforcement agencies.”

Moruonfoye added that the Kwara State Government was focusing on intelligence gathering.

Also, the Akwa Ibom State Police Command urged residents of the state not to panic over the bombings in Abuja. The Police said it had mapped out strategies to tackle insecurity in the state.

The command’s Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Etim Dickson, said the force had bomb disposal units at different motor parks, airports and some other strategic places, with a view to preventing disaster.

He said, “Although this incident has not occurred in the state, we have taken a number of precautions.”

Similarly, the Nigeria Police, Cross River Command, said it was not taking anything for granted.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Cross River State, Mr. Hogan Bassey, said the Thursday blast in Abuja was a warning that the insurgency was bound to affect all the states in the country.

He said, “Any part of Nigeria that is touched will affect all the states. We are, however, putting modalities in place to make sure we do not have that kind of experience here.”

In the same vein, the state government, through the State Security Adviser, Mr. Rekpene Bassey, said going by the developments in Abuja, it had become necessary to step up intelligence.

The Ondo State Government said it was collaborating with various security agencies in the state and it was fully prepared to protect the lives of Ondo people.

The state Commissioner for Information, Kayode Akinmade, said on Friday that there was the need for a synergy among all security agencies and governments to curtail the rampaging insurgents.

He said, “We want to assure the people of Ondo State that structures have been put in place to ensure their safety. However, we cannot be talking about the strategies to curtail the terrorists on the pages of newspapers.”

Meanwhile, the Enugu State Government on Friday said the security network in the state had not been compromised. It gave residents in the state the assurance that there would be no Boko Haram bombings.

The state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Chuks Ugwoke, said, “We keep improving on the security network so as not to take chances.”

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, equally said there was no cause for alarm.

“We have mounted heavy security presence in all entry points to the state,” said Amaraizu.

Similarly, the Osun State Government said it had put in place a number of security measures to ensure that such attacks did not occur in the state.

The state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Sunday Akere, told one of our correspondents that security agencies had intensified their patrol of the state.

He said, “The government has purchased over 300 patrol vans for security agencies and they were distributed.  This has enhanced the mobility of security agencies in the state because they are now able to patrol the state.”